Did you know that the attack on Pearl Harbor was a wake-up call to our nation’s military? They realized that there was a need for increased military capability, which also included an expansion in chemical and biological warfare.

“On February 6, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt withdrew an initial 126,720 acres of Utah land from the public domain for use by the War Department. Six days later Dugway Proving Ground was established... Testing was under way by that summer. Dugway Proving Ground was authorized to fill the need for testing weapons and defenses against chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. Over the years, the proving ground underwent various name changes and periods of deactivation and reactivation. In 1943, the Army established biological warfare and testing facilities at Dugway… In 1950, the center resumed active status, and acquired an additional 279,000 acres of land for exclusive use… In 1968, the Fort Douglas-based Deseret Test Center and Dugway Proving Ground combined and became known as the Deseret Test Center. This alliance lasted until 1973, when the present Dugway Proving Ground became